How We Set Up Two Separate Office Spaces in Our RV

Levi and I don’t know many other people in their 30s who live in an RV, and we always joke that we skipped the mid-life crisis and went straight to retirement.

In all seriousness, however, we’re not retired. And with both of us having full-time jobs, we had to figure out a way to create two separate work spaces in our RV.

One of the things people are always curious about is how we work without a traditional office. Luckily, we were able to not only find an RV with a floor plan that met our needs, but we re-used a few pieces of office furniture from our house as well.

Keep reading to see how we did it!

Picking out an RV and a floor plan

We originally chose an older Class A diesel pusher because we didn’t have the budget for a big truck and fifth wheel, but the more we researched the more we realized the class A motorhomes have the best layouts for our needs.

Our home: a 2006 Fleetwood Discovery 39L with four slides

Class A or “bus-type” RVs typically have longer slides than travel trailers and fifth wheels, and many have front and back living areas separated by a hallway with a door.

The hallway that separates the living areas of our motorhome has two doors, which is ideal when one or both of us are on conference calls.

In the front living area, whoever owned our motorhome before us removed the original dinette and couch, and the RV dealer we purchased it from had put an aftermarket couch and table in their place.

Because the aftermarket furniture is a lot easier to move around than the original fixtures, after some measuring we were able to figure out that the IKEA desk in the office of our house would fit in the front living area where there was once a dinette.

In the back living area, we created a second office space where there was once a window seat using a Varidesk standing desk and a small foot stool. The bed is behind the second office space and makes a good back rest.

Here’s a bit more detail about each space!

Office 1: IKEA Desk in Dinette Space

Workspace number one is in the front slide where a fold out dining table once was. When we purchased the RV, the dealer had an after market leaf table here.

We didn’t use the dining area when we had a house, and not much has changed since we moved into an RV. The leaf table was a gathering place for clutter, so it went off to Goodwill and has been replaced by an Alex desk from IKEA.

This particular desk works great because it fits in the slide so when we bring the slide in we can still get around it to get to the back of the RV.

Office 2: Varidesk Standing Desk in Window Seat

We had to get a bit more creative to make office space numero dos work, and we’ve saved an alternate space in the front should this space no longer work out.

The bedroom of our RV had what’s called a “window seat.” It’s a flat space in front of a window that used to have a cushion on it.

What was it originally used for? Who the heck knows. But we sat a Varidesk standing desk on it and turned it into an office space.

The window seat isn’t tall enough to use the standing desk to stand, but it’s the perfect height for a sitting desk when paired with a small stool. Should our bedroom office space stop working out, we have a space up front in another slide where a loveseat used to sit.

This space where a loveseat once sat will be perfect for a desk should the need ever arise

Overall, we’re happy with the way we’ve been able to use the space available in our motorhome with the office furniture we had in our house to make two usable and comfortable workspaces.

There’s always room for improvement, and the layout and roominess of the class A RV will allow us to make changes as our needs change.

We hope this post inspired you to take a look at some of the spaces in your RV and find creative ways to make them fit your life. Thanks for reading!